Liquid Web vs Nexcess
We give Liquid Web a 2.0 GPA and Nexcess a 1.6, out of 4.0. Liquid Web grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Liquid Web
Managed WordPress, VPS and dedicated server hosting for businesses
How we grade them
| 2.0GPALiquid WebFair | 1.6GPANexcessWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro WordPress is $17.10 a month billed yearly for one site, with no intro price to expire, so two years cost $410.40. That sits between the cheaper and dearer quarters of hosts. More traffic costs more: 400,000 visits is $71.10 a month. | CNo price on record: every plan is quoted after a talk with its team, so no two-year figure can be worked out. It sits at C, the grade for no stated price. The add-ons are priced: Imunify360 malware scanning is $30 a month, cPanel from $20. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan and no trial on record, so you pay from the start. | FNo free plan and no trial, and no self-serve plan to try at all. You start with a conversation. |
| Features | BManaged WordPress with Object Cache Pro, a Cloudflare-powered CDN, a firewall, daily malware scans, Patchstack and staging with visual comparison, plus VPS plans with root access. Nothing in the core hosting job is missing. | CManaged WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento and Shopware, managed VPS, a compliance-ready setup and full migrations including email and DNS. The gaps the listing names: malware scanning is a $30 add-on, and cPanel and Plesk cost extra. |
| Ease of use | CNo app store rating to go on. Managed WordPress is looked after for you, but the cheapest VPS is self-managed, so there you'd run the server yourself. | CNo app store rating to go on. Its team plans the setup with you and does the migration, which helps, but you can't just sign up and start. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web dashboard with no app on record. VPS plans come with an API and cPanel, Plesk or InterWorx, and Cloudflare and Kadence are named too. | CA web service with no app or API on record. The named integrations are the platforms it hosts and its control panels: WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, Shopware, cPanel, Plesk and InterWorx. |
| Best for | WordPress sites that may grow into a server | stores that need PCI-ready managed hosting |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Liquid Web and Nexcess. How we grade
Where they differ
At a glance
| Liquid Web | Nexcess | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Starts at | $17 per month (self-managed VPS); managed WordPress $17.10 a month, billed annually | Not published |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Liquid Web, LLC | Nexcess Corp. |
| Price read from | liquidweb.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Liquid Web
- Businesses that expect to move from WordPress hosting to their own server
- Teams that want a fully managed VPS with cPanel or Plesk
- Developers who want a cheap self-managed VPS with root access
Nexcess
- Stores that need PCI-ready hosting for WooCommerce or Magento
- Businesses moving off shared hosting that want a managed VPS
- Teams that prefer to plan hosting with an engineer rather than pick a plan online
Worth knowing
Liquid Web
- Dedicated servers, Magento hosting and white-label plans for agencies are sold separately from the plans listed here.
- WordPress prices rise with traffic: one Pro site with up to 400,000 visits is $71.10 a month, billed annually.
- The $17 VPS is self-managed; the same server fully managed costs $72 a month.
- Autoscaling and CDN overage are billed by use, and Performance Shield is an optional add-on; the plan page does not give their prices.
Nexcess
- No hosting plan has a published price; WordPress, ecommerce and VPS hosting are quoted after talking with its team.
- cPanel costs $20 a month for 5 accounts, $35 for 30 or $50 for 100, and Plesk is $15 a month on Windows servers.
- Imunify360 malware scanning is a $30-a-month add-on, ThreatDown intrusion monitoring $34 and per-server DDoS mitigation $111.
- Its pages lead with regulated industries such as healthcare and finance, so there is no self-serve plan for a small blog.
Key features
Liquid Web
- Managed WordPress platform
- WordPress core and plugin updates are handled for you, with Object Cache Pro, a Cloudflare-powered edge CDN, a web application firewall and DDoS protection.
- Staging with visual comparison
- Pro and Elite WordPress plans include staging sites and visual comparison, which previews how plugin updates change pages before they go live.
- Security layers
- WordPress plans include daily malware scans, Kadence Security Pro and Patchstack virtual patching for known plugin flaws.
- VPS with root access
- VPS plans give root access on a 10 Gbps network, with cPanel, Plesk or InterWorx control panels, Windows servers and an API.
- Self or fully managed
- The same VPS can be self-managed or fully managed, where Liquid Web also handles system updates, firewall setup, PHP support and restores.
- Migrations
- A self-serve tool moves WordPress sites over, and Elite plans add migration by a specialist. Managed VPS moves include email and control panel accounts.
Nexcess
- Managed WordPress and WooCommerce
- WordPress and WooCommerce environments come with automatic updates, security hardening and performance tuning, and scale up for traffic spikes.
- Magento and Shopware hosting
- Ecommerce environments for Magento and Shopware are managed at the application layer, with autoscaling and a bundled CDN for Shopware.
- Managed VPS
- Each VPS has its own CPU, RAM and storage, with OS and security patches, DDoS protection, firewalls, a CDN and WAF, and 7-day Acronis backups.
- Control panel choice
- InterWorx is included free on Linux servers; cPanel and Plesk are available for a monthly fee.
- Compliance-ready setup
- The platform is built for PCI-DSS, HIPAA and SOC 2 requirements, and PCI ASV scans and vulnerability scanning can be added.
- Full migrations
- Its team moves files, databases, email and DNS records, including SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and verifies sites before DNS is switched.
Plans
Liquid Web
Self-Managed VPS, 4 GB$17
per month for 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM, billed monthly
80 GB SSD, 3 TB bandwidth, root access and a dedicated IP. You look after the operating system, security and software yourself.
Pro WordPress$17.10
per month for 1 site, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Up to 50,000 visits, 15 GB storage, 14 days of daily backups, staging and visual comparison. $35.10 at 150,000 visits.
Elite WordPress$26.10
per month for 1 site, billed annually ($29 billed monthly)
Up to 50,000 visits and 15 GB, with 30 days of backups and migration done by a person. $53.10 at 150,000 visits.
Managed VPS, 4 GB$72
per month for 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM, billed monthly
The same server fully managed: 24/7 support, updates, firewall setup and Acronis backups, with cPanel, Plesk or InterWorx and Windows available.
Pro WordPress, 10 sites$89.10
per month for 10 sites, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
Ten sites with up to 50,000 visits each. Plans for 25 sites start at $179.10 a month, billed annually.
Nexcess
Pricing could not be confirmed. See nexcess.com.
Ways to pay less
Liquid Web
- Annual discount
10% off WordPress plans billed yearly
Annual billing saves 10% on managed WordPress plans: Pro for one site is $17.10 a month instead of $19 billed monthly.
Nexcess
No public discounts listed.
